Chinese in Southeast Asia - Orientation

Identification.
The Chinese in Southeast Asia once referred to themselves as
"Huaqiao" (Chinese sojourners) but now describe themselves
as "Huaren" (Chinese people). Another common ethnonym for
Chinese, "Zhongguo ren" (people of the Central Kingdom),
is avoided in Southeast Asia because it holds overtones of political
allegiance to China: the Overseas Chinese live outside the political
boundaries of China and are citizens or permanent residents of a variety
of Southeast Asian nations. The southern Chinese, who form the core of
immigrants to Southeast Asia, also refer to themselves as
"Tangren" (people of Tang), alluding to the fact that
their ancestors migrated to southern China at the demise of the Tang
dynasty in the tenth century
A.D.
In the Philippines they are called "Sangley," from a
Southern Min word referring to "[those who] do business."

Location.
Overseas Chinese are found in cities throughout Southeast Asia, and
although populations may be found in rural areas, the Chinese are
overwhelmingly urban. In Southeast Asian cities they are visible in
their capacity as merchants, with shops sometimes clustered in
distinctive "Chinatowns."

Demography.
Migration to Southeast Asia originated primarily in the coastal area of
southeastern China, in particular Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan, and
reached its peak in the second half of the nineteenth century, spurred
by new opportunities created by the opening of treaty ports after the
First Opium War. The only predominantly Chinese population in Southeast
Asia is that of Singapore, where an estimated 2 million Chinese form 76
percent of a population of 3 million. In Malaysia, the Chinese form a
large minority, currently estimated at 34 percent of a population of 18
million. In Indonesia, where the Chinese are only 3 percent of the total
population of 195 million, there are 5 to 6 million Chinese; in
Thailand, the Chinese population has been recently estimated as 5 to 6
million or more in a total population of 57 million; in the Philippines
there are 600,000 in a population of 62 million; in Cambodia, 300,000 in
a population of 8.5 million; in Laos, 25,000 in a population of 4
million. In Vietnam in the mid-seventies there were perhaps 2 million
Chinese, but many have since become refugees. Demographic statistics do
not always reveal the extent of the Overseas Chinese presence, since
partially assimilated Chinese may not be counted as
"Chinese" in a census report even though they maintain
Chinese identity.

Assimilation.
Chinese who settled in Southeast Asia before the mid-nineteenth century
were likely to intermarry and become assimilated to local populations,
or to develop new social forms syncretized from elements of Chinese and
local cultures. Examples include the mestizos of the Philippines, the
Peranakans of Indonesia, and the Baba of Singapore and Malaysia. In
contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia, cultural assimilation is now less
common: the practice of Islam is now an important expression of ethnic
and national identity for "peoples of the soil," and this
tends to form an obstacle to intermarriage and full assimilation. By
contrast, Chinese have tended to assimilate more readily in the Buddhist
countries of mainland Southeast Asia. In Thailand, for example,
assimilation has been relatively easy for Chinese; at the same time a
population of "Sino-Thai," who have maintained
distinctively Sinitic cultural practices while adopting the Thai
language and Thai names, has persisted. On the one hand, assimilation
has resulted from the relative absence of barriers to intermarriage into
a population that shares a common world religion in Buddhism, and on the
other hand it is the result of government policy, which since 1948 has
restricted Chinese-language instruction in formerly Chinese-medium
educational institutions. In Vietnam, it was once axiomatic that Chinese
found low barriers to assimilation, since Vietnam had been deeply
influenced by Sinitic culture, adopting Chinese characters, Mahayana
Buddhism, and for a time a bureaucratic structure of government in which
candidates for high office were selected through an examination system
modeled on that of imperial China. However, colonial rule and its
political aftermath have had an impact on the position of Chinese
populations in Southeast Asia. For example, in the period of French
colonial rule, French regulations discouraged Vietnamese but encouraged
Chinese participation in commerce, and in 1970 it was estimated that
while Chinese Vietnamese were only 5.3 percent of the total population,
they controlled 70-80 percent of the commerce of Vietnam. In the
aftermath of the Vietnam War, the Chinese Vietnamese became a political
target, and many fled or were driven out of Vietnam. The Chinese
Kampucheans were labeled urban "exploiters" by Pol Pot,
and it is estimated that 200,000 perished between 1975 and 1979.

Linguistic Affiliation.
Overseas Chinese speak a variety of Sinitic regional languages, drawn
from three language groups that are not mutually intelligible. Major
regional languages include Min (Northern and Southern), Yue, and Hakka.
Within Overseas Chinese communities, Chinese also identify themselves by
their topolect of origin (misleadingly termed a
"dialect"). Topolects of Southern Min include Fujian
(Hokkien, Fukien), Chaozhou (Chaochow, Taechew, Teochew), and Hainan.
Topolects of Northern Min include Fuzhou (Foochow, Hockchew), Xinghua
(Henghua), and Fuqing (Hockchia). Speakers of Yue (Cantonese, Guangfu,
Yueh) and Hakka (Hokka, Ke, Kechia, Kejia, Kek, Kheh) are also widely
found in Southeast Asia. A single urban community in Southeast Asia
might include speakers of eight or more Sinitic topolects, and in such
situations, one topolect tends to become the lingua franca for that
community. For example, the Fujian topolect of Southern Min (Hokkien) is
dominant in many Overseas Chinese communities in Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia, and the Philippines, whereas another Southern Min topolect,
Chaozhou (Teochew), dominates in Thailand. There are also long-resident
Chinese populations who speak Southeast Asian languages as the language
of the home: an estimated 65 percent of Chinese Indonesians speak
Indonesian in the home; an estimated 80 percent of Chinese Thai speak
Thai. In some cases, Chinese has been creolized with Southeast Asian
languages: Baba Malay, formed from Hokkien and Malay, is spoken in
Singapore and Malaysia; Peranakan Indonesian, formed from Indonesian,
Javanese, and Hokkien, is used in Indonesia. The Chinese regional
languages share a single written language, which was once learned
through diverse literary registers of the regional languages. Since the
Republican Revolution of 1911, the written language has been learned
through Mandarin-medium education, which was for a time a force for
Chinese nationalism in Southeast Asia as well as in China. With the
exception of Singapore, Southeast Asian governments have in the
postcolonial era promoted national languages at the expense of
Chinese-medium education, thus eroding one important base for the
continuation of Sinitic culture in Overseas Chinese communities. For
example, the Indonesian government promotes Bahasa Indonesia as the
medium of education and public discourse, and it has restricted
Chinese-medium education and the Chinese-language press. In Malaysia,
mastery of the national language, Bahasa Melayu, is increasingly
indispensable to public life. However, Mandarin Chinese continues to be
a medium of instruction in Chinese-medium primary schools and private
secondary schools, and the Chinese-language press has persisted. In the
Philippines, Chinese-language instruction has been restricted since
1973, and the new generation of Chinese Filipinos is considered more
Filipino than Chinese in outlook. The command of Chinese languages is
useful in business, and allows Chinese to maintain ethnic ties across
national boundaries; this is one important motive for the maintenance of
Chinese-language ability in the context of Southeast Asia.

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